AnarchistArtificer

Starting using a password manager is by far the biggest quality of life improvement from a single change that I’ve made in the last 5 years. It’s so refreshing to go on a website that I haven’t used in years and not go through the rigmarole of creating an account, only for it to say I already have one, causing me to have to faff around resetting my password.

And best of all, I no longer have to deal with the annoyance of trying to reset my password to one of my go-tos (we all know that reusing passwords isn’t good, but let’s be real — if we’re storing our passwords in our heads, then we’re probably going to do it for sites we don’t care about), only for the site to tell you that they have a bunch of specific requirements that explains why you weren’t able to log in with your usual go-to password (my local council has a more restricted set of symbols that you’re allowed to use in passwords than most sites, for instance)

If anyone has been on the fence about it, I’d encourage you to give it a go. You don’t have to switch everything over all at once — I’ve been using it for a few years now and I still occasionally find a website that I use so infrequently. I just reset my password and the browser extension will then ask if I want to save the new one. When I first started using a password manager, I just went to all the sites that had passwords saved in my browser and logged out and back in again using those saved passwords, which would allow me to add them to my password manager super easily.

I use Bitwarden, and it’s what I usually recommend to people. A good master password is actually a pass-phrase — a string of a few randomly generated words. Don’t pick words that you like — use a tool like this one (though it is okay to mash the “generate” button a few times until you find one that’s memorable. 4 words is a good balance of memorability and security for most people. Write the passphrase down and store it some place in secure but easily accessible (such as your home, but like, not stuck to your monitor).

<Steps off soapbox>

Okay, I’m done now. I always get super enthusiastic about advising people to use password managers because although I struggle especially with organisation and executive function due to ADHD, I think that modern society has us all worn down in that respect. From that angle, using a password manager feels like essential self care.

I came here to recommend SIGNALIS. One of my favourite games of all time. It’s a love letter to the genre, but also has so much of its own thing to say. I could talk for hours on this game